


Awake

by katierosefun



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-07-25 11:25:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7530913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katierosefun/pseuds/katierosefun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[set post-season three finale.] Daisy just can’t get a good night’s sleep. Then again, maybe the fact that Coulson shows up in them all the time is why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awake

“You can sleep in here,” the girl said quietly, pushing open the door. “My parents won’t be home for tonight.”

A small part of Daisy was disturbed by that. “How old are you again?” she asked the girl quizzically.

The girl lifted a shoulder. “Twelve,” she replied. At Daisy’s look, she said defensively, “It’s okay. I can take care of myself.” She looked defiant, ready to spring into a full-heated argument at any second. Daisy decided not to get involved.

“I never said you couldn’t,” Daisy heard herself say. She felt something tug at the corner of her mouth. “I believe you; you look tough.”

At that, the girl beamed, all coldness melting away. She pushed the door open further and gestured inside to reveal a small guestroom. There was nothing much in it – a bed, nightstand, mirror, a dresser. A window with a fire-escape – which Daisy already knew she was going to probably need if the parents (or anyone else) suddenly come home.

“Thanks,” Daisy said, slipping inside.

“No problem.” The girl paused in the doorway as Daisy sat down on the bed. In a smaller, tentative voice, the girl said, “Good night.”

Daisy gave the girl a smile. “Night,” she replied, and with that, the door closed gently.

She was alone now.

Daisy let out a small breath and lay back on the bed. She could hear the cars moving outside, as well as the late-night couples and families walking up and down the streets. Another city, another apartment room, another random person willing to help her out – this kind of stuff happened much more often than Daisy had expected. Then again, the fact that there were some people who heard the name “Quake” and instantly knelt down wasn’t exactly something terrible for her, either.

But that feeling of glory only lasted for so long. In the daylight, sure – for a while, Daisy would feel like that everything was fine; she really _was_ a hero.

In the night, though…

Daisy rolled over on her side, her breaths coming out shallowly. She eyed the shadows in the corners of the room suspiciously, as though at any moment, they might transform into something horrible. At that thought, Daisy clenched her fingers around the comforter of the bed. Her heart skipped a beat – she felt cold beads of sweat form over the small of her back.

After a heart-pounding second, Daisy managed a quiet, dry giggle to herself. “You’re afraid of the dark now?” she asked herself incredulously. “Don’t be stupid.”

She pretended not to notice how her body instinctively curled deeper into the blankets.

\--

She was waiting in his office again.

She seemed to wait a lot in his office – especially these nights.

The lights were turned off, giving the whole place an eerie, otherworldly feeling. From the dim source of the nightly glow through the windows, Daisy could see papers scattered all over his desk. At a closer look (she didn’t even have to walk to the desk – she could just _look_ – that was how clear everything was), Daisy could see the headlines in bold, black font.

_MYSTERIOUS EARTHQUAKE DURING BANK ROBBERY_

_THREE CHILDREN RESCUED FROM A FIRE - FOUND LEVITATING ABOVE THE GROUND_

And suddenly, he was at her side, silently reading the headlines with her.

“You’ve shaken up the newspapers quite a bit, Agent Johnson,” he said, picking up the corner of one of the papers. He looked over at her, a weak smile tugging at the corners of one of his lips. “I know, I’m sorry. Best one I could think of.”

“I guess puns are the least of my problems right now,” Daisy replied lightly. She grabbed the newspaper with the photo of the children hovering above the ground. “Really, though, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with _this_ one. Did you pick it off a tabloid or something?” She flipped to the front cover and scowled. Tossing it to Coulson, she said, “ _Seriously?_ An alien-watch magazine? And not even a real one?”

“You’d be surprised by how much we depend on them,” Coulson responded with an unapologetic shrug of his shoulders. “If you’re looking for anything interesting or suspicious, you dig into the interesting and suspicious-looking parts of the media.”

“Interesting and suspicious-looking?” Daisy asked, snorting. “I’ll give you the interesting, but ‘suspicious-looking’ is a bit of a reach.” She frowned, her arms dropping to her sides. Feeling something in her chest harden, she went on a bit coolly, “Never mind. I get it. _Suspicious-looking._ Ha.” Walking away from the desk, Daisy muttered icily, “Not like I haven’t heard _that_ one before.”

“Daisy –”

“I don’t _want_ to be found, Coulson,” Daisy interrupted angrily, her hands clenched into fists. “After _everything,_ you can’t expect me to come back so easy. I won’t – I –” She felt warmth around her wrist just then, and the rest of her words were lost.

“I –” Daisy tried again, but the warmth moved down from her wrist and into her still-clenched fist. Slowly, against her will, her hand opened and the warmth slipped in between her fingers into a firm – yet gentle – hold.

Daisy’s heart pounded in her chest. She waited one breath, two breaths, three…and felt the warmth give her hand a small squeeze. Instantly, Daisy felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She breathed out a shaky, surrendering sigh, her chin dropping to her chest.

In a small voice, she said, “I miss you. More than you know.”

“I miss you, too. More than _you_ can know.” Coulson’s voice was just as soft – just as hoarse (just as broken) as hers. And Daisy couldn’t just hear him behind her anymore. His voice was everywhere – encasing the whole office like it was a presence rather than a sound.

“I still can’t come back,” Daisy breathed. She blinked out a tear – and suddenly, she could see the tear in sharp (almost intense) focus as it dropped down to the ground. “I _can’t_.”

“I know you can’t,” Coulson responded softly.

And then he was standing in front of her, one of his hands lifting up Daisy’s chin. His eyes – the kind with colors and none at all – were trained on her, and all Daisy could think of was what the word _tunnel vision_ meant.

“I wish I could go home,” Daisy heard herself whispering. “Not SHIELD. _Home_.”

“I know,” Coulson said, and his thumb rubbed gently against her chin. Daisy closed her eyes as he leaned forward. She felt more tears squeeze out from the corners of her eyes as she felt his lips just barely brush against hers – not enough to be called a kiss, but just enough to be called an _almost_.

And Daisy wished she could lean back – she wished she could get rid of the almost – wished she could –

When she opened her eyes, Coulson wasn’t standing in front of her anymore.

“Just come home safe,” she heard him say. “Okay?”

\--

Daisy’s eyes sprang open with a start. For a heart-wrenching second, she couldn’t remember where she was – she couldn’t tell where she was – but then she saw the shadows in the corner and the walls and the tiny window and heard the girl moving around from next door.

Daisy slowly looked down across the bed.

It was just her.


End file.
